Trump has provoked the left with his comments on Muslims and
immigration but become a darling of many right-wing voters in the
US.

Here's what Varoufakis wrote when asked 'What do you think about
Donald Trump's political success in the US?':

Anger is prevalent. Common folks follow a good instinct when they
want to punish an establishment that has lied to them for
decades, that has treated them with contempt, that considers them
'useful idiots' to be bought by the highest bidder.

Unfortunately, this good instinct often leads fed up
conservatives to the wrong leader, camp, campaign. We saw this in
the 1930s, we are seeing it today in France (the rise of Le Pen).
Our duty as democrats is to offer disaffected voters, including
conservatives, a way to indulge their impulsive urge to punish
the establishment without becoming hostage to misanthropic
narratives, like Trump's, Le Pen's etc.

The 1930s saw the rise of right-wing, autocratic, Fascist
dictatorships in Italy, Spain, and Germany, while in France
Marine Le Pen leads the far-right National Front party, which has
recently enjoyed a boost in popularity.

Varoufakis and his party, Syriza, swept to power in Greece on a
wave of popular support, but from the left, not the right.
Varoufakis says there are "stark similarities" with his success
and the current popularity of US Democratic Presidential
candidate Bernie Sanders.

On the future of the EU: "I hope not but I
fear we may very well be experiencing the EU's disintegration.
The Eurozone has been, for some time now, in an advanced state
of deconstruction.... Beyond the Eurozone, Schengen has already
been suspended and is under enormous strain as the forces of
xenophobia, ultra-nationalism and plain paranoia are taking
over. The EU's inability is come to terms with what is, after
all, a mild refugee crisis (as compared, for instance, with
that facing Jordan or Lebanon) speaks volumes in this regard."

On Greece's economy: "Terribly,
heartbreakingly badly... Greece was in a free fall before we
[the Syriza party] were elected, and remains in one now because
our attempts to renegotiate the world's most failed 'program'
were crushed by an ironclad troika determined not to 'lose'
Spain, Portugal, Ireland etc."

On Julian Assange: "Democracy is nothing
without the right to free speech. And, as I said at the
Volksbuhne Theatre while I was introducing Julian to the audience, the right to
free speech counts for little without the right to know what
our rulers are doing on our behalf."

On his new movement, DiEM 25 (Democratise
Europe): "The number one lesson many of us learned
during 2015 at the level of European Union, the Eurogroup,
etc., is that the old way of doing politics in Europe is
obsolete - finished... Instead of starting at level of the
nation-state and forging an alliance, which is flimsy and
brittle, how about starting a movement throughout Europe on the
basis of a very clear manifesto that binds us together? How
about a movement with some very simple ideas of what we want to
do as Europeans?"

On a potential Brexit: "I argued that British
voters have every reason to be livid with a deeply
anti-democratic, bureaucratic and unappetising EU. But it would
be wrong to think that they can just leave the EU behind,
sailing off into some other alliance with the US or China."

On Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie
Sanders: "The great difference between us is that
Bernie is running for the Presidency of a social economy that
is far more robust and autonomous than the Eurozone - and
infinitely more sustainable than a bankrupt country (Greece)
lacking any of the levers of policy making (e.g. monetary &
fiscal policy, the right to legislate that was given away last
summer with the 3rd Loan Agreement)."